


Devil's Due

by vianne78



Series: Nate [5]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Blind Betrayal, Pre-Relationship, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 18:59:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10882965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vianne78/pseuds/vianne78
Summary: Nate and Danse find an egg, and can't agree what to do with it.





	Devil's Due

**Author's Note:**

> The Devil's Due is hands down one of my favorite side quests in Fallout 4.  
> My take on what these two would make of it.

“You’re joking. Tell me you are joking!”  
Danse had stopped in his tracks, staring at Nate incredulously. The tips of Nate’s ears reddened, but he merely hitched the bag more firmly over his shoulder and continued walking.  
“I know we’ve been involved in plenty of crazy shit, but seriously? You would intentionally risk your life - _our_ lives - because...because of that?” 

Nate could feel Danse’s eyes boring on his back, and still he didn’t bother answering. Instead he busied himself with his Pip-Boy, digging out the map. The Museum of Witchcraft behind his back, he decided it’d be best to spend the night at Coastal Cottage, and continue the search in the morning. If he aimed towards Recon Bunker Theta from the settlement in broad daylight, he should pretty much bump right into the nest. 

He heard Danse’s outrage, and understood it, too. He just didn’t agree.  
He would return the damn egg, with or without Danse.  
He knew he wasn’t thinking about this rationally. He probably identified with the beast and it’s stolen eggs and took this as a personal insult.

Okay. Not even probably, that was exactly what was going on in his head.

The thought of someone stealing anyone’s offspring filled him with white-hot rage, and whenever he had the means to make it right, he would do it. He didn’t care if it was human children, or dogs, or birds… or deathclaws, apparently. 

An angry flush spread on his face as he increased his pace to an easy jog, Danse’s furious protests carrying from further and further behind. For once, the former Paladin wasn’t wearing his noisy power armor, but even without it, Nate could hear he wasn’t following.  
A sick, sinking feeling settled in his stomach.

***

He spent the night as a more than welcome guest at Coastal Cottage, the settlers eagerly showing him the crops and defenses, the new buildings and the trader shop they had set up next to the bakery. Two new people introduced themselves to him. This settlement was the most recent one on the mainland, but it was already blossoming. 

The people - the families - seemed so happy and proud, and their easy chattering over dinner helped to distract Nate for a while. Usually evenings like this in any of his settlements made everything seem worth it, but Danse’s words still ringing in his ears put a dampener in everything.

As he eventually turned in for the night, Nate felt the sting of being alone more pronounced than he remembered it being since the first weeks after the Vault. Danse had been with him for over a year now, and even when he had occasionally traveled with other friends, he had always known the soldier would be there when he returned home. 

For the first time since the paladin had left the Brotherhood, he didn’t know where Danse was, and it made him feel like a ragged, gaping hole had somehow replaced everything inside his rib cage. Like he was short of breath and just couldn’t draw enough air.  
It was ridiculous. They weren’t _together_ together, they were companions and brothers and close friends.  
So why did he feel like he had just been dumped?

He felt for the bag in the dark to make sure it was far enough to be safe, in case he tossed and turned in his sleep - if he could get any sleep. The egg felt warm even through the sturdy canvas. He felt foolish wrapping one of the patchwork quilts around the bag, but did it anyway.

“Well, wherever he is, at least he’s safe. You know, in case your mom decides she wants to snack on the messenger.”  
Wow. He was talking to an egg. No wonder Danse had left.  
Listening to gunfire rattling in the distance, Nate lied down.  
He tossed and turned all night, and didn’t sleep at all.

***

The persistent gunfire and explosions from the night before sort of got an explanation, when Nate happened across what had been a Gunner fortification. Only, the Gunners and their robots had been thoroughly wiped out by someone - or someones - wielding some serious laser weapons. 

Which reminded him that Danse had recently taken a liking to the heavily modified Gatling laser Nate had given him. His stomach twisted painfully, and he didn’t feel like lingering to poke around. The nest had to be somewhere close by and he needed to find it, get this over with. He continued at a half-run, concentrating on finding signs of deathclaws, and completely missed the figure that shadowed him at a safe distance.

***

There it was.  
Holy shit, there it was, at the bottom of a dried up river, sheltered by the old, steep banks from all sides. It was basically a dead end, because of course it had to be. He’d have to walk all the way in there to reach the nest, and once there, he would be easy prey. He could already feel eyes on him, and had to steel himself so he wouldn’t turn around and flee.

Danse had been absolutely right. This had to be the stupidest, most idiotic thing he had ever even thought of doing. 

He wrapped his arm protectively around the canvas bag and forced himself to take the first step. And then another. And another. He felt blood draining from his face the closer to the nest he got, and briefly wondered if the deathclaw could hear his frantic heartbeat all the way to wherever it was lurking. 

It was one thing to face a deathclaw, or a few, as a surprise - the situations tended to happen so quickly you didn’t have time to be a chicken. It was a completely different thing to knowingly walk into one’s nest. Holding its egg. Without power armor. Or napalm, or any nuclear weapons.  
Then, suddenly, he was face to face with the mother.

It was one of the biggest ones he had seen so far, clearly a matriarch. It towered over him, magnificent horns and all, puffing hot air through its nostrils. It made no move to attack, but Nate’s mouth had run dry, and forming words took considerable effort.  
“Truce? Truce. No one has to be anyone’s dinner tonight.” 

The beast glanced at the empty nest, and turned its eyes back to him. He thought he recognized something in them, something behind the look, a flicker of an _emotion_ all too familiar to him - which probably only proved how fucked up he was.

He took a slow sidestep toward the nest, opening the bag and reaching for the egg.  
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry they took your kids. I - I managed to get one of them back.”

He set the egg carefully on the nest - a pile of dirt, branches and bones. As soon as he got out of the way, the deathclaw made a sound somewhere between a coo and a purr, and proceeded to cover the egg in a protective layer of dirt. 

Nate retreated slowly, keeping an eye on the mother and trying not to trip on the treacherous rocks. She lifted her massive, fangy head to stare at him and growled. Not viciously - almost conversationally.  
“Uh, good deathclaw. I sincerely hope we never meet again, ‘cause, you know. I might have to kill you. So, uh. Take care now, bye bye then.”

When he felt like he was far enough away, and the mother still made no move to attack him, he turned and - 

***

Danse watched Nate as he walked up to the nest and faced the deathclaw mother. He had the egg bag in his hands, his combat shotgun hanging on his back - there was no way he could even reach for it if the monster jumped him now. If that wasn’t suicidal, Danse didn’t know what was. And he had seen the telltale shadows under the blue eyes. Apparently neither of them had slept last night.

Danse was still royally pissed off, fear never failed to make him angry. But Nate, he only got more stubborn. Danse knew him, and could see in every move he made the Vault Dweller was afraid, but it didn’t stop him. Never had. It was exasperating and endearing and infuriating, and just one of the things he loved in the pre-war relic. 

His fingers were twitching on his Gatling laser, ready to fire at the beast and rip it to shreds if it showed any indication of attacking, if it so much as pointed at Nate with a single claw. It did nothing of the sort. Somehow Nate made it seem like he almost connected with the monster, like he so easily did with humans.

When he faintly heard Nate apologizing for the stolen kids, Danse was suddenly reminded that Nate’s had been stolen, too - that he would always, always be a parent, forced to live his life without his child - and his eyes widened as the realization hit him right in the gut.  
Of course. How could he have been so blind, again? 

Of course Nate had reacted to the stolen egg as a parent and not as a soldier, or a tactician.  
Nate began retreating, his back towards Danse, who was busy berating himself for his furious words the night before. He should have known better. He should have understood.

***

Nate turned around and froze, his stomach twisting to knots so painfully, he had to fight not to grab his abdomen and give it away.  
Danse. Danse was right there, the Gatling laser aimed at the nest and a deep frown on his face.

“Now that you’re done, I’d advise a hasty retreat before the deathclaw decides to “thank” you personally,” he rumbled, and Nate’s throat felt so tight he merely nodded, glancing back one last time. The deathclaw mother was still hovering protectively over the nest, and Nate started walking away, the now empty bag dangling from his fingers.

***

They made it all the way to the Gunner fortification before either of them spoke. Now that he knew Danse had been around the night before, Nate believed it was obvious who was responsible for the destruction. He slowed down, stopping by two broken assaultrons and gesturing around.  
“You?”

Danse nodded slightly, looking at him with serious, unreadable eyes. Nate tried for a smile, but ended up grimacing instead. He knew he looked unhappy and couldn’t help it, so he turned away to hide his face, pretending to search for anything salvageable. 

The silence was killing him, but he didn't dare open his mouth. He could apologize, of course - but he wasn’t really sorry for what he had done, and a promise to never do anything like that again would be a lie. Shit. What if he was ruining this by just being who he was?

“Nate.”  
He couldn’t face Danse, instead acting like he hadn’t heard him, crouching to dig out a fusion core and some ammo from a sentry bot.

“Nate.”  
Nate’s throat was still strangled shut. Right then he felt the full weight of everything he had already lost, and was sure he would crumble under it if he had to add Danse to the baggage now.

He rose and continued to the nearby body of a Gunner, his shoulders so tense they were bunched almost up to his ears.  
He heard a heavy thud as Danse’s weapon hit the grass, and then he was whipped around, to face the man he at that moment feared even more than he had feared the deathclaw earlier.

“Will you please look at me? I’m trying to apologize!”

Nate froze.

_What?_

Danse finally caught his eyes, still looking serious but now a little desperate, too.  
“I should never have stayed behind like that,” Danse said intensely, taking a deep breath before he could continue.  
“I didn’t think. The same thing happened to you but I - I didn’t _remember_ , not until I heard what you said back there, by the nest... I can’t believe I didn’t realize why you wanted to return the egg. I couldn’t see beyond the potential danger at all.”  
Danse looked so ashamed, but didn’t avert his gaze. “I’m sorry. I should have stayed by your side, and I’m sorry.” 

Nate processed the words, could feel the tension leaving his muscles as they continued to stare at each other.  
He was so relieved he felt dizzy. He didn’t fail in smiling this time.  
He lifted his hand to cover the one gripping his shoulder. Danse’s light brown eyes were almost golden in the sunlight.  
“You have nothing to apologize for. You’re here, aren’t you? You were right here the whole time.”

Danse yanked him forward and wrapped him in a fierce hug.  
“Yeah, I’m right here.” His words were muffled by Nate’s armored fatigues, and Nate’s widening smile was buried in the neck of Danse’s battlecoat. He felt foolish again but easily gave in to the urge to get as close as possible, squeezing harder, the thick fabric of the coat bunching in his hands.  
They stayed like that for a long while, the tight embrace healing them both.

***

They looted all the ammo they could find at the Gunner camp, and then took their time walking back to Coastal Cottage, to send the settlers on site for everything else. Things were back to how they were supposed to be - the two of them together, side by side.  
They were both grinning every time they glanced at each other, unable to stop.  
After this particular separation it took them quite some time to be more than a couple of paces apart - something their friends didn't fail to notice, even if it sailed right over the two soldiers heads.

***


End file.
